SCIENTIFIC NAME: Bactris gasipaes

COMMON NAME(S): Peach palm, Pejibaye
SUB FAMILY: Arecoideae
TRIBE: Cocoeae
ORIGIN: Central and South America (exact origin unknown)
HARDINESS ZONES: 10B-11 (severely damaged or killed at 26 degrees F)
TYPICAL MAXIMUM HEIGHT: 25'
GROWTH RATE: Moderate
HABIT: Clustering, rarely solitary, with 5-6 stems each bearing 8-12 leaves
SALT TOLERANCE: Low
DROUGHT TOLERANCE: Moderate
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Acid best
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Moderate; high
NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS: Moderate
POPULAR USES: Specimen tree; edible fruit
HUMAN HAZARDS: Spiny
POPULAR OR RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS: Numerous local varieties in Central and South America.

COMMENTS: Palms as spiny as the 200 or more species of Bactris are rarely favored for landscaping, and it is doubtful that any member of this large, primarily rain forest, genus will soon be encountered more widely than as an occassional curiosity in botanical or collector's gardens. The single species treated here is important because of its highly valued fruit, an important food source throughout Central and South America where it is cultivated widely. In fact, the exact nativity of peach palm is unknown, and the species is seen only in cultivation. The large fruits must first be boiled in salt water to be rendered edible. So prepared, they have a mealy texture, rich in oil, with a flavor pleasant (or at least inoffensive) to most palates. The cultivated forms produce mostly seedless fruit.